CONGO: November 8, 2007


KINSHASA - Authorities in Congo have launched an inquiry into the suspected dumping of 18 tonnes of highly radioactive minerals into a river in southeast Katanga province, the provincial mines minister said on Wednesday.


The minerals, including 17 tonnes of copper ore with a level of radioactivity 50 times the tolerable limit, were seized last month in the town of Likasi en route for export and are believed to have been dumped last week.

Mineral residue tested on the bridge and banks of the Mura river found levels of radioactivity as high as 10 milliRoentgen per hour, some 33 times Congo's tolerable limit.

"If this information is really true, there are serious risks for the local population," Democratic Republic of Congo's Environment Minister Didace Pembe told Reuters. "That would require serious punishment. There are grave consequences."

He said he was expecting a report from local authorities in Katanga by Wednesday afternoon. (Reporting by Joe Bavier; Editing by Daniel Flynn and Mary Gabriel)


REUTERS NEWS SERVICE